Bengaluru now has whopping 91 lakh voters!

VOTER ROLLS ANALYSIS FOR BENGALURU

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Election Commission, through many special drives, has been focusing on getting more voters registered. Here are some observations based on the final voter roll numbers shared by the Election Commission.

20.7 Lakh voters have been added to the 28 constituencies of Bengaluru, 3.16 lakhs have been added in the two months March – May 2018!

From an average of 2.5 lakhs voters in 2015, Bengaluru constituencies have an average voter roll size of 3.25 lakhs.

The smallest constituency is Shivaji Nagar with 1.96 Lakh voters, the largest is Bengaluru South, three times that size, with 6.03 lakhs. Mahadevapura follows with 5.04 lakhs.

The total electorate was 70 Lakhs in 2013, and it is now 91 lakhs. While the 28 constituencies include parts of panchayat areas around the city, it is pertinent to note that the 2011 census of Bengaluru pegged the population within BBMP areas at 84.43 lakhs.

Constituency number

Constituency name

May 13

March 2018

May 2018

150

Yelahanka

293,212

373,987

387,664

151

K.R. Pura

339,796

438,082

465,434

152

Byatarayanapura

330,418

419,587

440,308

153

Yeshwanthapura

349,701

453,792

474,806

154

Rajarajeshwarinagar

334,741

454,901

471,459

155

Dasarahalli

345,035

437,077

449,897

156

Mahalakshmi Layout

245,575

286,908

292,332

157

Malleshwaram

173,745

213,528

218,922

158

Hebbal

210,384

252,870

265,312

159

Pulakeshinagar

178,192

231,913

237,288

160

Sarvagnanagar

279,868

334,420

347,506

161

C.V. RamannNagar

196,617

260,559

269,010

162

Shivajinagar

167,181

191,528

196,776

163

Shantinagar

179,386

218,461

226,046

164

Gandhinagar

192,909

223,224

229,803

165

Rajajinagar

176,139

207,606

211,116

166

Govindarajanagar

239,480

288,248

292,973

167

Vijayanagar

235,957

305,386

312,443

168

Chamrajapet

183,004

216,896

220,947

169

Chickpet

187,702

216,834

223,682

170

Basavanagudi

198,218

238,614

245,325

171

Padmanabanagar

219,474

267,865

278,219

172

B.T.M Layout

207,212

263,853

270,493

173

Jayanagar

170,935

195,401

203,184

174

Mahadevapura

368,234

470,878

504,850

175

Bommanahalli

320,323

405,037

414,076

176

Bangalore South

448,097

581,408

603,678

177

Anekal

270,678

348,102

359,546

7,042,213

8,796,965

9,113,095

Commander PG Bhat, an expert in election-related data, who has been analysing the voter rolls for many years questions the accuracy of voter rolls:

Census india states that 41.1% of the population of India is below 18 years. To have 91 lakh voters, the population of Bangalore must be 1.55 crore, at least, if every eligible person has registered as a voter. Do we need a better proof that the voter lists bloated beyond belief?

Of course population of Bengaluru might have gone up in last seven years. The percentage of people who are single and in the city for earning their livelihoods might be more, so the question of having 41% population below 18 years may not arise here. Various websites take into account annual rate of increase in population and peg the population of Bengaluru between 1.23 crores and 1.24 crores. Even then, 91 lakh looks bloated.

Meanwhile, many voters who gave request to change their constituency during the special drives have got new voter cards, but their names continue to exist in the old constituency rolls as well. This just leads to doubts on the credibility of the voter roll numbers. This is important, because after the election, it will lead to a false analysis that concludes low voter turn out, as the base number on which it is calculated is inaccurate or bloated.

One apartment in Mahadevapura reported the presence of unknown persons in the same address where a few voters lived, and suspected that some of the entries might have been made by political parties to create fake voters. However, the Election Commission and BBMP officials ruled out any such issue.

Duplicate entries of same voters in a booth, across the booths and constituencies continue to haunt the voter list and affect its accuracy.

If you haven’t found your name yet in the new rolls, this link is where you can search for it.